The Pogues have announced their first headline tour in 10 years and their first without lead singer Shane MacGowan.
MacGowan died of pneumonia in 2023 after previously suffering a brain swelling condition, leading many to believe the band would never tour again.
But the band announced yesterday that they’ll perform live in celebration of 40 years since their second album, Rum Sodomy and the Lash, with dates scheduled for May 2025 in Leeds, Birmingham, London, Glasgow, Manchester, and Newcastle.
Original members Spider Stacy, James Fearnley, and Jem Finer will appear on the tour, and as of now, the site says that they will be joined by ‘special guests’ to take on the role of vocalist.
A statement on the band’s website reads: ‘The world got you down? What helps is celebrating 40 years of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash with The Pogues!’
Fans of The Pogues have mixed feelings on the tour, with some wondering if the band can possibly retain their former magic without McGowan.
X user @OliverS88776242 wrote: ‘Their music is timeless, and I can’t wait to see how they honor his legacy on this tour.’
But @Stephen16498892 isn’t as certain, posting: ‘Oh noooo… Got mixed feelings about this … I will be checking out tickets for the Glasgow Barrowland. Attended a few brilliant Pogues gigs at the venue. Will probably attend this one. But…will it be the Pogues???’
@hammerman1111 said simply: ‘No Shane. Very mixed on this.’
@AmakaMma_ agreed: ‘This is bittersweet news. 💔 I’m glad they’re continuing on, but it won’t be the same without Shane.’
Released in August 1985, Rum, Sodomy and the Lash was the follow-up to the band’s debut, Red Roses for Me.
The album features many of the band’s best-known works, including A Pair of Brown Eyes, The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn, and MacGowan’s take on Dirty Old Town by Ewan MacColl.
The song for which the band remains most well known is undoubtedly their his Christmas song Fairytale of New York.
In a recent interview with Metro, Spider discussed the iconic song: ‘Actually, it’s very hard to write a really good Christmas song.You can write a kind of a novelty hit that you release around Christmas time that goes to number one but to actually sit down and write, “Okay, this is actually a Christmas song that is going to be a Christmas song.”
‘I mean, it took us two years, at least, to get Fairytale to be in a recordable shape.’
They also discussed the new tour,with James joking: ‘You can’t keep us away. We just want to make noise because we love performing.’
Recent gigs saw special guests filling the vocal spot left behind by Shane, which the Pogues believe brought something new to the tracks, which they hope will remain the case on the new tour.
‘I don’t think anyone had, I mean, I certainly didn’t have any conception of how that would turn out and it was a mind blowing, affirming thing,’ said Spider.
He lauded the younger Irish artists who joined them on stage, calling it a ‘full circle moment’ of shared tradition.
Jem added: ‘When you’re young, you talk about tradition and you can’t really understand it in the same way as you can now, 40 years later. When you see it as a living thing that moves and has moved right through us into this new bunch.’
The Pogues Rum Sodomy and the Lash 2025 Tour dates
The Pogues are heading on tour to celebrate 40 years of their iconic album Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash.
The trio plus special guests will visit six UK venues in May 2025 with tickets going on sale Friday, November 22 at 9.30am via Ticketmaster.
The 2025 dates are:
Thursday, May 8 – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
Thursday, May 1 – O2 Academy, Leeds
Friday, May 2 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
Saturday, May 3 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
Tuesday, May 6 – Barrowland, Glasgow
Wednesday, May 7 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
For Spider, these shows had that feeling of the early days of The Pogues.
‘So much a product of its environment, and it’s time,’ the Boys from the County Hell hitmaker continued.
‘From our point of view, The Pogues becoming what they what they are and what we are, it wouldn’t have worked at any other time, in any other place, probably with any other people.’
Tickets for The Pogues tour go on general sale on 9.30am GMT on Friday 22 November – fans can gain pre-sale access by signing up to the website by 5pm on Tuesday 19 November.
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